thedrifter
05-14-06, 12:57 PM
Mother’s Day tough when Mama is off "fighting the bad guys"
By CHRIS LAMBIE Staff Reporter
A four-year-old Greenwood boy will release a bunch of balloons today, hoping the wind will carry them and the messages of love they contain to his mother serving with the Canadian military in Afghanistan.
Cpl. Karri Allison is a medic and single mom who was sent to Kandahar in February, leaving her son, Alexei, in the care of her own mother, Heather Allison.
"We’re going to set off balloons with messages inside to his mother in Afghanistan and hope they float to her," Mrs. Allison said.
"We’re hoping that if somebody does find them and read the messages they’ll realize that these are great sacrifices that our military men and women and their children make every day."
Alexei’s notes are likely to include messages such as, "Happy Mother’s Day," "Love you," "Stay safe," and "Come home soon," said Mrs. Allison, who left her job and moved from Halifax to the Annapolis Valley to take care of her grandson while her daughter is away.
Alexei misses his mother, who isn’t expected home until August or September.
"She’s fighting the bad guys and looking after the soldiers," he said.
The family has set up Alexei with his own e-mail account to communicate with his mother.
"She’ll e-mail him and then we sit and read it, and then I e-mail back to her," said Alexei’s grandmother.
"He tells me what he wants me to say. Sometimes he pounds on the keys so the spelling’s a little off. Every night he says a little prayer for her, so he was going to write that in one of the balloons."
His mom, a 29-year-old medic, has been in the military seven years. This is her first long overseas deployment.
"She’s been away for five or six months for training, but never to a war zone," said her mom.
Alexei knows exactly where his mother is working.
"Before she left she got a huge map of the world, and we have it down her hallway just outside his bedroom," said Mrs. Allison, 53.
"She has a little house where Nova Scotia is and that’s his house, and then she has a tent that is in Afghanistan and that shows where she is."
There’s also a moon and a sun on the diagram that Alexei can move back and forth to show that when he wakes up, his mom has gone to sleep in Afghanistan.
"He’s very well aware of where she is and what’s going on there. And we light a candle every night for his mom. He calls her Mama."
Since 2002, 15 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have been killed in Afghanistan.
"Whenever we have a fallen soldier, we light a white candle," said Mrs. Allison. "He calls them the soldier angels. So we explain to (Alexei) that some soldiers don’t come home, but they go to heaven and they watch out for Mama and all the other soldiers and keep them safe."
Before she left Canada, people asked Cpl. Allison how she could go to Afghanistan and leave her child.
"Her answer to this is, ‘When I joined, I signed on the dotted line like everybody else. I am a mom, but I’m also a soldier. What makes me any more important than somebody’s father?’ " said Mrs. Allison. "She really believes that."
On Mother’s Day, like most other days, she misses her daughter — whom she fondly calls "soldier girl."
"I wish she was here, but I also realize why she’s there," Mrs. Allison said. "I believe in the mission and I believe in our troops, and I guess that’s what helps me get through this."
With 2,300 Canadian troops in Afghanistan, an equal number of moms are worrying about their children deployed there, she said.
"It’s a war zone and I think we have to get our heads around that," Mrs. Allison said. "Our kids are being shot at, bombed, killed. I think it will be a hard go on Mother’s Day for a lot of moms out there."
( clambie@herald.ca)
Ellie
By CHRIS LAMBIE Staff Reporter
A four-year-old Greenwood boy will release a bunch of balloons today, hoping the wind will carry them and the messages of love they contain to his mother serving with the Canadian military in Afghanistan.
Cpl. Karri Allison is a medic and single mom who was sent to Kandahar in February, leaving her son, Alexei, in the care of her own mother, Heather Allison.
"We’re going to set off balloons with messages inside to his mother in Afghanistan and hope they float to her," Mrs. Allison said.
"We’re hoping that if somebody does find them and read the messages they’ll realize that these are great sacrifices that our military men and women and their children make every day."
Alexei’s notes are likely to include messages such as, "Happy Mother’s Day," "Love you," "Stay safe," and "Come home soon," said Mrs. Allison, who left her job and moved from Halifax to the Annapolis Valley to take care of her grandson while her daughter is away.
Alexei misses his mother, who isn’t expected home until August or September.
"She’s fighting the bad guys and looking after the soldiers," he said.
The family has set up Alexei with his own e-mail account to communicate with his mother.
"She’ll e-mail him and then we sit and read it, and then I e-mail back to her," said Alexei’s grandmother.
"He tells me what he wants me to say. Sometimes he pounds on the keys so the spelling’s a little off. Every night he says a little prayer for her, so he was going to write that in one of the balloons."
His mom, a 29-year-old medic, has been in the military seven years. This is her first long overseas deployment.
"She’s been away for five or six months for training, but never to a war zone," said her mom.
Alexei knows exactly where his mother is working.
"Before she left she got a huge map of the world, and we have it down her hallway just outside his bedroom," said Mrs. Allison, 53.
"She has a little house where Nova Scotia is and that’s his house, and then she has a tent that is in Afghanistan and that shows where she is."
There’s also a moon and a sun on the diagram that Alexei can move back and forth to show that when he wakes up, his mom has gone to sleep in Afghanistan.
"He’s very well aware of where she is and what’s going on there. And we light a candle every night for his mom. He calls her Mama."
Since 2002, 15 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have been killed in Afghanistan.
"Whenever we have a fallen soldier, we light a white candle," said Mrs. Allison. "He calls them the soldier angels. So we explain to (Alexei) that some soldiers don’t come home, but they go to heaven and they watch out for Mama and all the other soldiers and keep them safe."
Before she left Canada, people asked Cpl. Allison how she could go to Afghanistan and leave her child.
"Her answer to this is, ‘When I joined, I signed on the dotted line like everybody else. I am a mom, but I’m also a soldier. What makes me any more important than somebody’s father?’ " said Mrs. Allison. "She really believes that."
On Mother’s Day, like most other days, she misses her daughter — whom she fondly calls "soldier girl."
"I wish she was here, but I also realize why she’s there," Mrs. Allison said. "I believe in the mission and I believe in our troops, and I guess that’s what helps me get through this."
With 2,300 Canadian troops in Afghanistan, an equal number of moms are worrying about their children deployed there, she said.
"It’s a war zone and I think we have to get our heads around that," Mrs. Allison said. "Our kids are being shot at, bombed, killed. I think it will be a hard go on Mother’s Day for a lot of moms out there."
( clambie@herald.ca)
Ellie